KEARNEY, Neb. — From now on, special elections in Buffalo County communities involving fewer than 1,000 registered voters will be done by mail-in ballot.
Election Commissioner Glenda DeBrie told the Buffalo County Board this week that the mail-in system was used in Pleasanton in June and two more elections by mail are planned this fall in Gibbon and Ravenna.
"I was impressed with it," DeBrie said of the process. "There's a lot of counties in the state that are doing it, and it saves us money."
And it saves time: the time it takes to haul a computerized ballot marker to each polling site, the time it takes to organize poll workers and the time volunteers spend at those polling sites.
The Legislature approved the practice in 2009, and such elections are conducted at the discretion of county election commissioners.
In June, the Pleasanton Rural Fire District had a special election for a property tax levy override. Shawn Paitz, the district's secretary-treasurer, said officials weren't thrilled when DeBrie said the election would be done by mail-in ballot.
Fire officials felt they'd get more support if voters went to the polling booths.
"We wanted people to come in and cast their vote knowing, historically, what the average voter turnout is, knowing that a polling place election may have a better, positive end result for us, vs. putting the ballot right in every patron's hands," Paitz said. "Looking at historical voter turnout, we felt we wanted to proceed with a polling place election."
But in the end the levy override passed with a 200-86 vote. In hindsight, Paitz said they may have gotten the same result with ballots cast at a polling place.
DeBrie said ballots are mailed to all registered voters 10 to 20 days ahead of the date set for a special election. A voter votes, signs the enclosed envelope, puts a stamp on it and mails it back by 5 p.m. on election day. The ballots can be hand-delivered.
"I think it was fine, other than forgetting to put a stamp on it," Paitz said of his mail-in ballot. "It was simple and complete."
The City of Gibbon is scheduled to have a mail-in ballot Sept. 27 for a one-half cent sales tax increase to pay for a new $2 million pool. The Ravenna Economic Development Corp. will also have a special election by mail Oct. 18 to ask voters to approved a one-half cent sales tax increase for economic development, pending approval by the Ravenna City Council.
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